Arsenal came from a goal behind to defeat Rapid Vienna 2-1 in the opening group stage match in the Europa League. It was a horrendous opening 60 minutes for the Gunners as they looked disinterested for large spells as a scrappy Vienna side closed them down all over the pitch. A horrible Bernd Leno error gave the hosts a 1-0 lead, forcing Mikel Arteta to go to his bench quicker than he would have liked in order to find some inspiration. He got his changes spot on, however, as the introductions of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Hector Bellerin changed the game in the hosts favor, and two quick goals from David Luiz and Aubameyang turned the tide in Arsenal’s favor and allowed them to escape with a narrow win.
Positives
Thomas Partey was handed his full Arsenal debut, and boy did he deliver. He oozed class from the opening whistle, clearly showing that he is already the best central midfielder at Arteta’s disposal. Confident on the ball and positionally sound off of it, it was the perfect match to begin to integrate the Ghanian into the side. There will be much tougher tests ahead, including Sunday against Leicester, but so far so good for Arsenal’s ￡50 million man.
Other major signing Gabriel continued to impress at the heart of the defense as the Brazilian was stoic and unrelenting dealing with a surprisingly feisty Vienna attack. Arsenal might finally have a consistent center back to build around, and his form only helps those around him perform better as well. David Luiz looks much more assured knowing his compatriot is alongside him, and this is a partnership that should continue to grow over the course of the season.
Another positive continues to be the production in the final third by Hector Bellerin. Arsenal looked totally bereft of ideas in the attacking end for the first 60 minutes, but the introduction of Bellerin alongside Aubameyang provided an attacking outlet down the right. Sure enough, not even 15 minutes after coming on those two linked up for the Arsenal winner. After being released brilliantly by Mohammed Elneny, Bellerin teed up an inch perfect ball for Aubameyang to tap in. That is now four assists for Bellerin early on in the campaign, and it is excellent to see him in such good form after receiving some criticism down the stretch last season.
Negatives
Unfortunately, despite all of the positives, the bad far outweighed the good in this one. Rapid Vienna is a team that Arsenal should be putting to the sword early, not struggling to come from behind to defeat. The first half was a dismal showing by the visitors, who looked short of ideas and creativity while being shaky passing the ball out of the back. The system Mikel Arteta has implemented necessitates complete and total focus and energy from the team, and they simply did not have either for the first 60 minutes.
This was also an evening to forget for the usually impenetrable Bernd Leno in goal. His distribution was absolutely awful tonight, and he was duly punished for it when his horrible pass was intercepted in the box and finished into an empty net by Vienna. He was fortunate to escape further embarrassment on two other occasions when poor clearances were intercepted in dangerous areas, but thankfully both resulted in off-target shots. The team is committed to playing it out from the back to generate the attack, so hopefully Leno got all of his mistakes out of his system before the weekend.
The last negative might be a bit harsh, but Eddie Nketiah simply cannot function as a wide attacker. It is painfully obvious that he is only a center forward, so Arteta’s selection of playing him out on the left tonight was a head-scratcher. While he does offer pace, he has no real experience with the defensive or positional duties of a winger, and he looked lost on many occasions resulting in him being subbed off early in the 60th minute. It was no real surprise to see the team function much better once he was replaced by Aubameyang. Reiss Nelson would have been a much better choice in that spot in a match like this and Arteta rates him highly, so it was very curious to see him on the bench when the team sheet was released.
At the end of the day a win is a win, and these three points provide Arsenal with the ideal start to the Arsenal Europa League campaign. However, they better turn their performance around fast, as a showing similar to this in three days at the Emirates against Leicester will see them get run off the pitch by the Foxes.
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